hope
beyond the idiocy...from Language Hat comes a wonderful article by Luc Sante, French without tears, from the Threepenny Review. it's writing such as this that makes me wonder what we could do if we quit killing each other, and all the ridiculous, defeating types of behaviors that the species exhibits on an all-too-often basis.
with that thought, I give you this quote that came in the WordADay email:
It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. -Voltaire, philosopherhow true. did you hear that George?
(1694-1778)
Language Hat also talks about the Jewish Encyclopedia. in a moment of coincidence, GuruNet had sent me there on a search for a word that came up on AWAD, and in the process of exploring, I came upon this paragraph: (in an entry about gemaṭria)
Theoretic Basis: All creation has developed through emanation from the En Sof. The first degrees of that evolution are the ten Sefirot, from the last of which, Kingdom, developed the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Through the latter the whole finite world has come into existence. These letters are dynamic powers. Since these powers are numbers, everything that has sprung from them is number. Number is the essence of things, whose local and temporal relations ultimately depend on numerical proportions. Everything has its prototype in the world of spirit, that spiritual prototype being the germ from which the thing has been developed. As the essence of things is number, the identity of things in number demontrates their identity in essence.
this comes from the Cabala. ah, progress...
NEW CAR!!!
yippee!!!yes, we got a new car! not brand new, but new to us! yippee! now we can travel to Iowa without worrying... it's a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan, "Butane Blue". I'll take some pics tomorrow, and post them up here. so check back then. time to go look out the window...
here's a pic I took from the Dodge site. I think it looks a bit more blue than this, but...
UU blogs
a directory...though mine is not technically a UU blog, mine is more of the "on-line diaries" type, I thought I'd share this link to other UU blogs that I happened upon tonight. I haven't yet delved into the sites, but there looks to be some interesting reading out there. here's the link:
Guide to UU blogsenjoy.
I'm not counting chickens yet, but it looks like we might get a new car tomorrow. we'll take any good energy that you'd be willing to share... I'll let you know. have a great day.
oh well
might as well at least say hello...not a lot going on today. a nice church picnic, though it was pretty chilly. the boys did swim a bit, but they would have appreciated more sunshine, I'm sure.
after that, it was definitely a lazy Sunday afternoon. I did go outside and attempt to take down the remnants of the old metal shed, but of course, the drill driver batteries weren't charged. guess I wasn't meant to do anything today. I've done a little bit of surfing, and played around with a design program. we need a plot plan for the new deck we'll build next month. this makes it look like I know what I'm doing...
other that that, nada. tomorrow, maybe new car hunting will resume. we shall see. have a good one.
smorgasbord
a little bit of this...a day. the boys had their final soccer games of camp this morning. it was a perfect day for it; not too hot, very comfortable. Emerson and Lincoln were on opposite teams, so we knew we were going to win! they both played well, and it was a nice end to camp. Chellis scored a goal for his team! actually, I think the only goal his team scored. we are very proud of all three boys; they played hard, and did well. now on to real summer for them...
I had a follow-up at the chiropractor's today. he found some new places to crack, and after my follow-follow-up on Monday, maybe I'll be done. we'll wait and see...
spent the rest of the day working on some gallery pages for the Counterpoint site. see them here: Counterpoint Gallery.
I probably have more pictures to organize, but I'm done for now... enjoy.tomorrow, a Saturday. nothing on the calendar, if I remember correctly, which is great. Sunday is a church picnic, and then on Monday, hopefully the car hunt begins in earnest. Run Earnest!!
sorry for that one...
did a bit of surfing along the way, and nearly made some links to a couple of news articles I ran across, but another time, perhaps... have a great tomorrow.
not today...
patience, grasshopper...no new car today. probably not until next week. we still have some financial details to work out, so I'm working on my patience skills... thankfully, we have the time right now to do this right, so we're not rushing into something that won't work out later. that will be a nice change. seems like we've been fighting this battle for 20 years.
big end-of-soccer-camp tomorrow. the boys have games to cap off the week, and then I believe a friend of E & L is coming over. I have my chiropractic follow-up after the games, so I won't miss anything. they've had a great time this week.
not much else to add. I got the old van all cleaned out and vacuumed, ready to trade. now we'll have to keep it clean for a few days... wish us luck with that!
not much surfing today, more like a rowboat. maybe I need to listen to some Beach Boys. we'll sail on the Sloop John B... have a great one.
be vewy, vewy quiet...
we are hunting cars...well, thought I would give a small update. the bank, of course, will give us the money we need. we just have to be willing and able to make the monthly payments... heh. but we are going car(mini-van...) shopping tomorrow after we drop the boys off for soccer. there are several new van choices, and depending on what's on the lots, some nearly-new possibilities, as well. so, by this time tomorrow, we may have a new car! wish us luck!
The Internet Sacred Text Archive
Open Source for the Human Soulquite an amazing site:
Internet Sacred Text ArchiveIt will take much time to even begin...
enjoy your day...
decisions...
can't live with 'em...well, the van went into the shop today; the usual: service job, check the brakes, the transmission had been acting a bit funny... and half a G later... the airconditioning isn't going to get fixed, that was going to be another $500... so, with a trip to Iowa coming up(it gets really quite hot in July between here and there), we're going to meet with a bank financial advisor tomorrow to see what we can do. we've dropped a lot of money into the van these last six months, and though we still owe(a lot), it doesn't seem to make much sense to continue to pay out on top of the monthly payment. so, we'll see what is possible. ideally, a new van. realistically, who the hell knows.
anyway, it's exciting to think we can figure out something, and I'm going to focus on that...
it rained here today...
very interesting...
huhone of those "realizing how little I know" sort of moments. I really have no idea(not completely true, I suppose...) what this is all about, but it is cool:
four letter words, in 3Dit comes from Mark Liberman at Language Log
who goes way beyond thinking it just looks cool...just one stop on the webtrain of today...
Monday, Monday...
summertime...truly a summertime day... slept in a bit, leisurely drank my coffee, did my usual web-route, and then went to school...
wait. went to school? yeah, I still had boxes of music on a table, and things to pick up off the floor so they can clean the carpet, and, and... but now the room is basically ready for the fall. which I'm not going to think about anymore tonight. my music purchasing order will go through on July 1, and then I can relax and order music online. very nice. a most wonderful creemee on the way home, sunshine, and smooth sailing for the rest of the day... ah, bliss...
so nice, I'm going to stop writing... have a great tomorrow.
weekend update...
fingers crossed...just a quick note for now; I've upgraded the blogware. apparently the problems I had the other day were related to a security hole that was exploited by some hackers... huh. it seems they have been hitting Pivot sites, and although they didn't seem to do any damage to my site, other than it going down for awhile, they have been able to mess up other sites. I guess I wasn't enough to worry about. the upgrade is supposed to block that hole, so I should be good. if you run into any pages that don't load, or look funny(more than usual...), drop me a comment here or send me an email. all this stuff is really over my head, but I'm trying...
beautiful day here. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there, especially mine!!
back up and running
so far so good...well, thanks to a tip from the Pivot forum, I'm back in business. I'm not sure exactly how that one file name got changed, but this was the case of deleting one letter "b", from a file name buried a couple of directories deep... I should find out in a day or two, how that is... until then, keep your fingers crossed. I'm also looking at upgrading to the latest Pivot release, though if this is working, I may not have to.
interestingly enough, at least to me, I've recently dealt with a similar problem on the Counterpoint site. I had to change a bit of code(on every page!) to get it going again. they wouldn't really claim responsibility for breaking the site, but it had been working fine. when I asked them that question, they did say that some security update had been put through about that time... hehe. oh well, things look good now.
on a musical note, today's rehearsal went very well, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. should be a great show, and the location couldn't be anymore beautiful. The Trapp Family Lodge Meadow is simply breathtaking. wish you all could be there!!
have a great weekend...
beam me up, Scotty...
to boldly go...Scientists Transfer Info Between Atomshere's the last paragraph:
Basically, researchers can use lab techniques to create a weird relationship between pairs of tiny particles. After that, the fate of one particle instantly affects the other; if one particle is made to take on a certain set of properties, the other immediately takes on identical or opposite properties, no matter how far away it is and without any apparent physical connection to the first particle.cool...
WHO Ended the Cold War?
The South Dakota Peace & Justice Center offers this important reminder:Perhaps the most dangerous myth regarding the legacy of the late President Ronald Reagan is that he was somehow responsible for the end of the Cold War.From "Don't credit Reagan for ending the Cold War," by Stephen Zunes
While Ronald Reagan was certainly capable of inspirational leadership, idealism, and personal charm, the myth that he is responsible for the downfall of Communism and the end of the Cold War does a disservice to the millions of Eastern Europeans and others who faced the tanks and struggled against great odds for their freedom. It was not American militarism, but MASSIVE NONVIOLENT ACTION -- including strikes, boycotts, mass demonstrations, and other forms of ingenious non-cooperation -- that finally brought down these communist regimes.
Click here for the complete commentary.
fini
ah, summer...ahhh... sigh... summer... it's here, and just in the nick of time. I was so ready for school to finish this year. I hope that's not a harbinger of the future; I think that this was just a tough year. a summer's rest and rejuvenation, and I will be ready to do it all over again. this was a class that I had miscalculated, and wish I had done better with. we all let each other down.
that being said, I did have two students who performed at the graduation ceremony that were outstanding. very bright futures, and it was very exciting. there were several others who could have sung as well, but chose not to. and I should say that there were many students in the class who were terrific, but we had a hard time getting past the conflict of style and personality and expectation, as a whole. ah well, so it goes...
so tomorrow begins vacation, but also a weekend of Counterpoint performance. we are part of a large choral festival held in Stowe. actually, we're the headline act, and I have several solos, including the Missa Luba, a crazy African mass, that is one of the most difficult things I've ever sung. the solo is basically a transcribed improvisation by someone whose rote knowledge of Latin and deep sense of rhythm make for some very interesting lines and phrases... anyway, it'll be great, and the weekend will be a lot of fun. AH! Cappella was featured last year, and we had a great time. I'll let you know how it goes. you can read more on the Counterpoint site.
all right, enough for tonight. have a great day tomorrow!
more Chellis
a celebrity...they put up nice before and after shots of Chellis on his school site:
before and aftermake sure you mouse over the picture...
two more days...
Chellis
a couple of pics...
click them for a bigger view... he looks great, huh?!
more pictures to share
from Switzerland to Saturn...great pics from Cassini:
Saturn pics from Cassini
and yes, I am going to get some pictures of Chellis' haircut up one of these days...
still here...
just want to say hi.lots going on this weekend, and three more days of school to get through, and then I think I'll be able to relax. it was a good weekend, but busy. Chellis got his hair cut yesterday, 14 inches!! very cool, and I'm very proud of him. not many 8th grade boys would do something like that. he's a great kid. young man. three more days and he's a freshman in high school. sheesh...
the boys played at church this morning, and that was great!! Lincoln on clarinet, Emerson on sax, Chellis on snare drum, and I played the piano. such a great feeling sharing music with them that way. I think they enjoyed it too, and I think we'll be doing more... I think I may write a couple of small pieces for us, too. Marnie did a fabulous job with the service, too. it was pretty much the Grow Show...
I sang this afternoon at a wedding, and that went well. and it was a nice day for a drive to Burlington.
onward to the next three days... have a great rest of the day...
just wanted to share
look at all these pictures...ended up at this site in a round-about way from Uncle Jazzbeau's, and was thoroughly enjoying the slide show and then this picture came up and stopped me dead:
Richard Friedman - Rooz Cafe Showthis picture mde me feel similarly to the Tagore quote about death the other day. just stunning. that nature such as this exists, to stop us and remind us of beauty. raw, and triumphant.
reality?
just in case you need an antidote...thanks to Uncle Jazzbeau:
Reagan: media myth and realitythanks, Jim.
I haven't really been paying any attention to the media circus around Reagan's death, but if you have, here's an antidote... I understand it's hard to criticize someone immediately after their death, but sheesh, wake up, people!
my sister also sent me this:
66 unflattering things...more good reading... (sorry so political lately, but I want to try to keep the momentum going... we must bring this regime down...)
have a great day...
on the way out?
gotta like this...read this:
Coup d'etatmore later... have a great day!
Bush's true legacy...
and why no one in their right mind would vote for him...I found this via a site(American Voice 2004) my Dad sent me:
when do workers get their share?both sites offer a wealth of information, and help me not to feel like I don't understand an issue... I won't go into any depth tonight, but I wanted to share these with you. the American Voice site is especially interesting, as he really does look at both sides of the issue, which can only help our side...
structured procrastination
hey! this is me!somebody understands me...
Structured Procrastinationthis line sums it up well:
"[T]he procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important."
what did I put off today?...
read this later...
it's no way to start a day...this is what America has become:
Welcome to Americait will take years to recover from this administration. one can only hope that the rest of the world will be forgiving...
this is what I wrote on another forum in response to discussion about this article:
it has long been my belief that the US is an adolescent country. we are young, and strong, and head-strong, and get caught up in all sorts of things that are normally done by late teenagers. drunken binges, struggling with morals and conscience, mob psychology, Lord of the Flies and all that. this is in no way an excuse, rather some sort of explanation for our ridiculous behavior. we desire to do great things, but don't have the experience to know what really works. we think we are indestructable, and that our elders are fools. we think that if others would just do things our way everything would be wonderful.a friend replied that we were more like a bully, very scared, and ready to lash out at anyone we perceived to be weaker... very true. we are spoiled rotten...
sadly, many kids of this age die in drunken car crashes, taking innocent people with them, and Daddy gave us the keys to the Porsche, and we're driving way too fast...
not many of us sit at the "A" table...
whew
tgif...this will be short, since I'm at school, and I'm also basically brain dead right now. a week of rehearsals and concerts has taken it out of me. all went well, but as the year winds up(down?), I just feel like I have nothing left to give. I am definitely looking forward to this weekend. all three boys had their concerts this week, too, so I have video of those to watch tonight. that will be fun! Marnie said they went well, of course, and it will be great to see Emerson and Lincoln in their first band concert, and Chellis in his last middle school concert. time flies...
the weather has turned out most lovely today, with beautiful blue skies and delightful temperatures. tomorrow should be similar, and then the rain returns. I'm still not sick of the rain, however. the $8,000 spent on the well will last a long time, I'm sure...
hope your day is great, and tomorrow even better...